1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to waste receptacles and, more specifically, to liner bags for waste receptacles.
2. Background Description
Waste receptacles, such as rubbish or trash containers and waste baskets are commonly lined with a disposable plastic liner bag to protect the interior of such receptacles from contact with liquid or solid waste and to simplify the collection and removal of such waste from such receptacles. Such liner bags are provided in a variety of different sizes ranging from small waste basket size up to 33 gallon container size for use with different size waste receptacles.
Typically, such liner bags have a flat, two-sheet construction wherein the two sheets are sealed at both side edges and the bottom edges while leaving an open top end for insertion of waste into the interior of the liner bag. The top end of such liner bags are usually stretched over the top rim of the waste receptacle to support the liner bag in the receptacle in an open, waste receiving position. When full, the top end of the liner bag is brought together and tied with a twist tie or other closure, either before or after the liner bag is removed from the waste receptacle.
Such liner bags are also used to receive biological and other waste, either liquid or solid, generated in hospitals, nursing homes, doctors' offices, etc. It is also known to employ such liner bags in separate receptacles for sorting hazardous biological waste from non-biological waste.
In a large scale waste collection system employed in a hospital, conventional liner bags are used in small waste receptacles in each patient's room or in a predetermined area of the hospital to collect biological and other waste products, such as food, paper, human blood and waste, etc. A large waste receptacle is used to collect all of the smaller bags for a predetermined area, such as a single floor of a hospital, a ward, etc. The large receptacle, such as one sold by American Pharmaseal Company, has a box-like construction mounted on a wheeled, legged frame. The receptacle includes a back wall and two spaced side walls which are joined to and extend from a planar base. The side walls and the back wall have a height of approximately 51/2 to 6 feet and extend upward from the base to an open top end. A solid front wall extends across the opposed side walls and is joined to the side walls and the base. The front wall extends upward for a predetermined height from the base to an upper edge located intermediate the height of the side walls. At least one and preferably two spaced access openings are formed in the receptacle above the upper edge of the front wall and between the opposed side walls to enable waste to be deposited in the interior of the receptacle. Doors are pivotally mounted to the receptacle for closing the access openings.
An automated robot carrier is used to transport each large receptacle, on demand or on a time schedule, from the collection area to a central disposal site. At the central disposal site, the individual small waste bags in the large receptacle are removed and properly disposed of. However, it is common for spillage to occur from the small bags, either due to a loosening of the tie fasteners on the bags or a puncturing of the bags due to sharp objects, such a needles, etc., in the smaller bags. This results in the accumulation of liquid and/or solid material in the bottom of the large receptacle after the smaller liner bags have been removed from the receptacle. The liquids congeal and dry on the inner surfaces of the receptacle thereby necessitating scraping and the use of caustic chemicals to remove such dried liquids from the container to clean and sterilize the receptacle.
Such cleaning of the large waste receptacle is a time consuming, hazardous task due to the existence of biological waste encountered in a hospital. The caustic chemical typically employed to clean the interior of such waste receptacles requires careful handling and the need for protective equipment, such as protective suits, boots, gloves and a mask for the person assigned to cleaning the receptacle. Thus, the cleaning person can be potentially exposed to hazardous biological waste during the cleaning process. The protective equipment and the time required to remove dried or fluid liquid and solid material from the large receptacle increases the cost of the waste disposal process and, also, increases the turn around time between uses of the waste receptacle thereby delaying its return to use or requiring additional receptacles in the waste removal system.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a liner bag for a large waste receptacle, such as one typically used in a hospital to collect small waste liner bags from a predetermined area, which overcomes the problems encountered in the use of such large waste receptacles. It would also be desirable to provide a liner bag for a large waste receptacle which collects spillage, either liquid or solid, from the smaller liner bags deposited in the large waste receptacle and which prevents such waste from contacting the interior walls of the large waste receptacle. It would also be desirable to provide a liner bag for a large waste receptacle which is easy to install and remove from the waste receptacle. It would also be desirable to provide a liner bag for a large waste receptacle which minimizes contact and/or exposure with the hazardous or biological waste generated in a hospital waste collection system.